


Culture Shock

by Purplefern



Category: Tarzan (1999)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, I'm Bad At Titles, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot Collection, attempted humor anyway, because i can't help myself, expanding on Strangers Like Me, growing up in a different culture problems, you know it's in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-07 20:37:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19092679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purplefern/pseuds/Purplefern
Summary: Believe it or not, it was often very easy for Jane to forget that Tarzan had been raised by gorillas. But there are moments when Tarzan does or says something so alien that she is reminded all over again how big the gap between their worlds is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In primate species, bearing one’s teeth is a sign of aggression. For humans, smiling is a universal constant of joy. This can easily lead to some confusion for our favorite ape man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably way too long winded and in which I use the word “smile” way too much. It was just something that occurred to me while I was rewatching Tarzan and my ex-linguistic-major brain couldn’t help but hold onto the idea.

They were both laughing at something silly her father had done, when Tarzan suddenly stopped and stared at Jane’s lips. She stopped laughing and her open-mouthed grin faded, puzzled by what could have suddenly made him look so lost. 

 

“What’s wrong Tarzan? You rather look like you suddenly got asked a difficult maths question.”

 

His gaze moved up to her eyes, and the lost stare was replaced by a blank look. Mouth quirking up in what was quickly becoming a very common fond grin, she simplified. “You look confused. Everything alright?” 

 

He grunted, acknowledging he understood her question, and replied, “Yes. I’m confused about” he floundered for a moment, then finished by wordlessly tracing an upwards crescent in the air with his finger. She thought on this a moment, and finally guessed, with no small amount of puzzlement, “smiling?” 

 

It wasn’t a word he had learned yet, and he regarded her questioningly. In example, she gave a wide smile, then traced it and said again, “Sm-eye-ling”

 

“Smiling” he copied, then he gave a sharp nod “Yes. Confused about...smiling.” He sat 

down, with his index finger curled under his chin, looking for all the world like if he just thought hard enough at this problem he would solve it. She felt a wave of fondness at his posture, so clearly picked up from her father and yet also so utterly Tarzan. But she was also confused by his confusion. 

 

“Why?” she asked, hoping she could help him figure out whatever it was that was bothering him. 

 

He looked back at her, and she had the sinking and somewhat ridiculous feeling that now he was confused why she was confused that he was confused. “Smiling...bad” he said simply.

 

“Huh?” she couldn’t see where he had come up with  _ that _ idea. 

His face screwed up (adorably, she couldn’t help but think) in concentration,as he attempted to explain his predicament in what English he knew, making vague hand gestures, “Smiling...not good at others” He glanced up at her to see if she had gotten his meaning, but she hadn’t quite. She did have the vague impression of understanding, but gestured for him to go on. “Smiling makes others mad”, he tried instead, looking pleased that he had remembered the word he had been searching for. 

 

Finally Jane felt like she understood. She lightly slapped her face for how silly she was being,(as Tarzan looked on slightly concerned), she  _ did  _ know what this was about, she had just once again forgotten where Tarzan was coming from. “Of course! Gorillas and other primates ‘smile’ as a threatening display!” she tsked to herself and carried on, “It’s really no wonder that you would be confused about such a thing.” 

 

“Threaten?” questioned Tarzan. 

 

“Ah, it means...to make others afraid, and to tell them that you want to hurt them.”

  
He nodded in understanding as this explanation fit perfectly into what he knew about the expression. Starting to trace circles in the dirt at his feet, he made a sound that Jane was certain was the gorilla equivalent of nervously clearing one’s throat, and continued in a quieter tone, “Other gorillas always tell Tarzan not to do,” he looked at her with what she could only uncomfortably call hope, as though she held the secret of some long-sought answer, “But I  _ want  _ to smile when I see Jane. And Jane smiles at Tarzan.”  

 

She was proving his observation right with the smile creeping up on her face, but it was bittersweet. Although he had said very little, she couldn’t help but make certain...inferences. She could easily picture a little boy to whom smiling came naturally, yet living in a culture where it was a threat and a call for violence. No matter what way she imagined it working out, it certainly wouldn’t go well for young Tarzan. “Come on” she said kindly, waving him towards the projection tent-turned-makeshift-schoolhouse. As he unsteadily settled into one of the chairs, she loaded the projector with as many slides of happy people as she could find. 

 

“Well, Tarzan, you see” she said, flipping through the slides, “Humans, possibly even  _ ALL _ humans, according to my father’s linguist friends, smile when they’re happy. It’s a natural reaction to joy and to being with...people you care for”.   

 

“ _ All  _ humans?” he gasped, watching the continuing slides of joyful, toothy, wide smiles of happy people. She glanced at his expression through the corner of her eyes as she continued to change the slides. He looked happy, but also somewhat shellshocked, like she had turned his world upside down. She wished for a moment that she understood him better. She knew so little about how and what he actually thought, she hadn’t even known until now that he had seen something as simple as smiling as a negative thing. 

But when their eyes next met , he gave her a wide smile, and for that, she needed no translation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was my little idea, hope you enjoyed. R&R, thanks for reading. I may see you next chapter, I have a few different ideas for Tarzan oneshots. Dunno, just got a lot of random inspiration the last time I watched Tarzan. *shrugs*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During an English lesson, Tarzan gets distracted. Well, her daddy had theorised about social grooming. ( A short fluffy oneshot, capturing a snapshot moment in the camp.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something I’m kinda surprised never happened in either the movie or tv series. Or even really in fanfictions! Like, huh, you thought this would come up more often. Guess it’s up to me to write what probably shouldn’t be written. Attempted fluff ahoy!

“See Jane run” Jane read clearly, nose buried in one of her old children’s books. She and Tarzan were sitting very close together, shoulder to shoulder, and she tried to ignore the warm feelings she got from being so close to him, especially since she could tell that he was regarding her with that unmasked affectionate gaze of his. She self-consciously pushed back the bangs of her loose hair, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks. Avoiding looking towards Tarzan, she instead read through the picture book with an almost fierce focus. She knew if she met his stare she would just become a stammering mess-- not a very helpful thing when trying to teach someone proper English. Of course, she thought with an internal smirk, she didn’t think Tarzan was paying much attention to the book anyway. And honestly, neither was she. Just as she was considering giving up on this particular lesson, she was distracted by a sudden tickle on her scalp. She was going to wave the feeling away, assuming it was some bug or other (there was a despairingly large number of bugs in the jungle), but stopped before she even moved her hand from the book as the feeling moved, and was soon joined by another. 

Jane stiffened slightly when she realized it was Tarzan, with his fingers combing through her hair, but the stiffness was soon replaced with a quiet laugh instead when she peeked at him from behind the cover of the book, to see that he had become focused on a task of his own.  

Well, her daddy  _ had  _ theorized that social grooming amoung gorillas could be used as a recreation, and it looked like he was right. Tarzan certainly looked like he was enjoying himself more grooming her than he had been reading the book. Had her reading been that boring, she jokingly wondered to herself. Well, it may have been somewhat strange, but, she mused as his fingers continued to deftly pick across her scalp, it  _ did  _ feel rather nice. She set the long-ago ignored book down, and smiled up at Tarzan, who had shifted from sitting in the seat to crouching on top of it, leaning over her shoulder to bury his hands in her hair. He gave her a boyish smile, and she couldn’t help but be bemused at how natural this all was for him. 

Seeing no reason to make him stop, she slouched onto the table, abandoning the lesson once and for all, and just let him continue running his fingers through her hair. Frankly she was even a bit touched that he felt close enough to her to do what research suggested was usually kept amoung fellow troop members. Of course, she still couldn’t help but grimace when the peaceful moment was suddenly broken by the sound of a soft biting crunch. (Naturally her friend the ape man thought nothing of it, and continued on as content as ever. Possibly even more so thanks to her unwitting snack contribution.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that was my attempt at some fluffy humorous stuff without letting any hurt/comfort drip in. I hope you liked it, I was trying really hard to just capture a quick snapshot of a moment, just a little thing that would have been cute to see. I’m not sure how well I succeeded at either of these goals. Thanks for reading, comment, leave kudos, all that good stuff. Maybe see you next chapter.


End file.
